PREDICABLE (Lat. pra-dicabilis, what may be spoken of, from prwdicare, to declare. from pm, before + dicare. frequentative of diccrr. to say). A term in the scholastic logic connected with the scheme of classification. There were five designations employed in eta—Hying objects on a systematic plan—genus. species, dif ference, ( differentia ) , property ( proprium ) and accident (accidens). Genus is the name of ally class—marked off by some attribute or attri butes, called generic—subdivided into further classes, which are called the species of the genus. The other three designations—differ ence, property. accident—are names given to attributes, other than the generic, possessed by objects classified. The difference. or more fre quently the specific difference, is what distin guishes classes which are called species of the same genus; as, for example. the peculiarities wherein the eat differs from the tiger, lion. and other species of the genus fells. The property
designates any mark peculiar to a class but not used as a basis of classification. Thus, 'the use of tools' was regarded as a property of mall, for it was thought to be an exclusively human char acteristic, and,yet was not used as the basis for classifying man as a species distinct from apes, etc. The accident is any feature which is neither a generic attribute, a specific difference, nor a property. For instance, the high value of gold is an accident; gold would still be gold though it were plenty and cheap. There is much confusion of thought and conflict of usage in connection with the terms property and accident. It would lie well to omit the term property from considera tion altogether. Then accident would be an in elusive term comprehending all the qualities which are neither generic nor specific. Consult the logical works mentioned under LOGIC.